CCOO and UGT have placed participation in the general strike in a band that goes from the 41% recorded in communities such as Extremadura or Castilla-La Mancha up to the 75% reached in territories such as Andalucía and Aragón. These are the first data collected around seven in the morning, coinciding with the end of the night shift and the start of the morning shift.
Thus, they have detailed the general secretary of UGT’s Internal Area, Rafael Espartero, and the CCOO secretary for Organization, Agustín Martín, in a briefing to the media. They have specified that these initial figures still do not include the effect of the strike on the Public Administration, education, retail trade, the financial sector, or private services, since their activity, in general, begins between eight and nine in the morning.
Along these lines, they have advanced that it will be the general secretaries of both unions, Unai Sordo (CCOO) and Pepe Álvarez (UGT), who will offer the overall balance at 12.30 hours this Wednesday, within the framework of a rally of pickets called in Cibeles Square in Madrid.
According to the union account, the strike’s follow-through is being “uneven,” as they expected. They have pointed to a “strong presence” in the Cantabrian coastline, the Mediterranean, Catalonia and Andalucía—with special intensity in coastal areas—while the impact is lower in Castilla y León and Castilla-La Mancha.
“At a territorial level, we observe what we already expected. The less strained areas, the more depopulated areas, and that need people and need people who can live there, such as the two Castillas, then it is not the same sensitivity (toward the strike) as in the strained areas, where people are suffering the housing problem in their own skin,” they explained.
Despite that lower overall response in the Castillas, they have stressed that the logistics sector—with a strong presence in the Illescas area in the province of Toledo and in the province of Guadalajara—reaches follow-through close to 80%.
They have also highlighted significant stoppages in motor vehicles, petrochemicals, and the meat industry. In addition, according to their data, there is a reduction in electricity consumption of around 10%, which they interpret as a reflection of the near total shutdown of the electro-intensive industry and branches such as transport, agri-food, and steel transformation, operating only with minimum services.
"If the strike's evolution continues like this, this strike is a success," union spokespersons have said.
Judicial remedies and minimum services in Madrid
Both leaders have denounced the setting of "abusive" minimum services by various autonomous communities. They have highlighted that the High Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) has admitted very urgent interim measures and has overturned the minimum services established by the Community of Madrid in education, justice, and transport, considering them disproportionate and contrary to the exercise of the right to strike.
Regarding the incidents recorded in the first hours of the day, they have reported being hit by vehicles caused by drivers of members of information pickets in Galicia and Burgos, thankfully without any serious injuries occurring. In addition, they have counted at least two arrests: a person responsible for CCOO in the transport sector at Mercamadrid and a metal delegate in Zamudio.
The unions have also denounced more than a dozen injured people, including the Confederal Youth secretary, after receiving a blow to the head at Mercamadrid, as well as people affected by the use of pepper spray to disband pickets in the depot facilities at Fuencarral and at Mercamadrid itself.
In light of these events, the legal services of CCOO and UGT will review recordings regarding the use of pepper spray by the riot police units in the Community of Madrid, considering that it is a "disproportionate" means that violates the right of information of the pickets.
Likewise, they have said they will study whether the statements by the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, when referring to organizations as "union trash," can be the subject of a complaint for violation of fundamental rights.